Over the rainbow
by Apollo's Little Angel
Summary: Miranda Gardiner takes her friend, Anna Waters to camp, where she is faced with cute boys, mean girls, and a civil war of honor between the cabins. Thank the gods Iris is her mother. Only She and her rag-tag team of friends can keep the peace at camp. That is, until things go way too far and a quest is issued to save Camp Half-Blood from falling apart. Again.
1. Chapter 1

A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

_Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns everything except for plot and original character_

**Chapter One:**

My first monster attack was by far the most embarrassing fight ever. I've seen little kids fight with their siblings over a toy handle the situation better than I did. But oh well. That was six months ago and I'm stronger and wiser now.

At my school, the Yancey Academy, on the rare occasion that we behave, the wonderful Mrs. Kerr takes the kids on exciting educational field trips. As it happened, we'd somehow managed to not cause trouble for a month, so we were going to go to the local greenhouse in honor of Earth Day. I was surprised—this field trip might not suck half as bad as I thought.

Right.

I wore one of my tie-dye t-shirts, old baggy jeans, and a few bracelets, with my customary mood ring. I hate putting labels on people, but if I had to be summed up in a stereotype, it would be "hippie". I loved nature and cared for the environment, stayed very natural, tried to not pollute the air, simple and tried to keep the peace. I get that from my mom, my dad said, nut I wouldn't know, because she died in a freedom rally when I was two.

Anyway, I was an easy target for all the other students at school, because I was so different, but I never let it bother me. Besides, I had my close friend, Miranda Gardner with me, who was also eco-friendly. As Mrs. Kerr talked about how the humidity was good for the plants, Miranda and I had side-conversations about global warming and the best fuel-efficient transportation methods. I know, it sounds like torture, but for eco-nuts like us, it was heaven in comparison to Mrs. Kerr's misinformation.

At the end of the tour, Mrs. Kerr said, "You can look around now, kids. Be careful not to mess anything up!"

Miranda and I were looking at a Venus fly trap about to eat a fly when Jake walked over.

_Dear God, _I thought. _Here we go again…_ While I couldn't care less what Jake and his cronies said about me, Miranda wasn't that calm. She was without a doubt the most confident person I'd ever met. She was soft and sweet. Until you said the wrong thing on the wrong day. This was one of those days.

"Hey, Anna," he snickered. "Do you get high off of these plants?"

I saw how Miranda clenched her fist and I slightly bumped her, ready to leave.

"No?" He continued, following us. "Then do they turn you on?"

_Stay calm, don't cause trouble. He's stupid. Take the high road, _I reminded myself over and over. But like I said, you catch Miranda on the wrong day, you asking for trouble. Especially when she's defending her friends.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She hissed. Yes, actual _hissage_.

Jake smirked, looking Miranda with his electric blue eyes. "Nothing. I'm just trying to understand what runs through a hippie's mind. I mean, after all, most hippies are high all the time. They must see some pretty screwed up shizz."

Ouch. I admit, that one hurt. Especially because I'd never do drugs. That was the number one stereotype that kills me every time. "Wow, Jake," I growled. "Congrats. You said four coherent sentences—that's a new record for you. But please, rest yourself. You don't want to overwork yourself, thinking of a lame comeback. It'd fry the peanut you call a brain."

All the talking from the other kids stopped. No one stood up to Jake like that. He was six foot three, on the wrestling team, and rich enough to get his way out of anything. He laughed cruelly and shoved me up against the wall. "Listen here, Waters—I am giving you to the count of three to bow down and beg for forgiveness before I see if that Venus fly thing eats more than flies.

Looking at his profile much closer, I noticed that his eyes changed from blue to red, all his teeth were sharp as toothpicks, and he had even more muscle than I thought.

"Anna!" Miranda yelled from somewhere behind me. "Run!"

I kicked Jake's knee and bit (I've never been in a fight before. I had no clue what I was doing!) his arm and ran out of greenhouse, followed quickly by my friend.

"We have to get away," Miranda panted. "He'll kill you!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

She ran her fingers through her hair and cursed in some other language. "_Styx!_"

"Uh… What are we going to do with sticks, exactly?"

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind that. Let's go," she tried to pull my arm, but I resisted.

"If you said Jake will kill me, than he can kill the others too."

It took her a minutes to realize what I was trying to say. "But… how?"

I grinned. "I know a few tricks."

Truth be told, I didn't want to go back down there and I was beyond a shadow of doubt confused at what the heck was happening, but I felt like I'd started a mess and I had to clean it up.

Kids inside the greenhouse were screaming and running around. And it had the distinct smell of pee, I thought as I charged in, looking for Jake.

_Creeek! _I looked up at the piping. Jake, or what used to be Jake, hung from the ceiling, like a sloth. He reminded me of a vampire, in a way, but much older and much more cruel. He hissed and came down, pinning me to the ground. I was scratched and bruised, but I had a plan.

_If I could just get to the control panel…_ I rolled around to the wall and banged Jake's head against the wall. I was closer to the panel, but I could reach it. Then, out of nowhere, Jake turned into golden dust. I turned to see Miranda holding a small sword, eyes blazing with anger.

"Don't fight monsters..." She gasped. "Unless you know how to kill them."

We walked back to the road in silence. I looked back at all the mess I'd caused. _Monsters… Swords… Killer vampires… _I thought before passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, my last chapter was so… Ew… But at least in this chapter, I think things are a bit more… better? Anyways, shout out to **_**The Inked Pen**_**! I love constructive criticism =)**

**Oh, and I do not own Skittles. The Skittles people do!**

~0~0~0~0~

I woke up in a really soft bed with an I.V. in my arm. My mouth felt dry and tasteless, and my head was throbbing like I'd just taken a one hundred question math exam. "_What_?" I groaned. I slowly opened my eyes. I was laying in an _infirmary_? When did I get here? How did I get here? No one was in the room. Suddenly, I began to cry. Loudly. I felt my whole body shake and I was barely aware I was screaming like a fury. I convulsed and ran my fingers through my thick red hair rapidly.

I didn't notice I was alone anymore, until people were trying to lay me back down. I couldn't hear a word they were saying because I was screaming too loud, and I couldn't see anything that was going on, blinded by hot tears. It wasn't until I calmed down ten minutes later that I was able to compute my surroundings.

"That was a strong reaction," a boy mumbled.

"It's probably a backlash to the fight," another person—a girl—said.

"Still is a bit freaky…"

"Leo!"

I took a deep breath and whispered, "Where am I?"

The boy, Leo, jumped back slightly in surprise. The girl, smiled a little. She was pretty—blonde hair, blue eyes, a sporty physique.

"You're in the infirmary," she said slowly. "You had a strong reaction to the medicine we gave you, but it will wear off in an hour or two," she turned her attention back to Leo. "Go get Will."

When Leo left, the girl took the I.V. out of my arm gently. "My name is Cecil. I'm the daughter of Apollo."

I nearly choked on my spit. "Excuse me?"

She laughed half-heartedly, "Okay, okay, not _the _daughter. _One _of the daughters."

My mind went to a blank. "I'm sorry… What? What's Apollo? What am I—ow!" My head began to pulse again.

"Oh, geez, be careful! You don't want to strain yourself too much. You'll hurt yourself."

"Yeah. Whatever," I said, getting on my feet, despite the intense burning rush I felt run through my body. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm finding my friend and leaving." I somehow managed to wobble to the door, Cecil close behind me.

"Wait," she said, as I went out the door. "We need to talk about something important!"

I'm not sure if it was the medication they drugged me with, the waking up in a new place, the pain I felt, confusion, or a combination of all those things, but I was pissed off. I could usually keep myself grounded, but after all that I'd been through—_what _had_ I been through?_—it was warranted. My plan was to storm around this… whatever this was until I found my way out, buy a taxi to Lower East Manhattan, and crawl up into my bed and sleep for eternity. What I actually did was wobble about fifteen feet before falling over and was carried to this huge house's front porch steps.

"Are you okay?" I turned my face to see a pale boy with black hair, dark brown eyes, and intimidating baggy dark jeans and aviator's jacket. He had a silver skull ring and looked like he hadn't slept in days. My luck just kept getting better and better.

"Um… Yeah, I'm fine," I lied.

It was clear he didn't believe me. "Right. Because normal, healthy people faint in the middle of an arena all the time."

_Arena?_ "Why does everyone keep talking to me, like I know what's going on? Where am I? Who is Apollo?—" my rant was cut short when I noticed this guy's sword, black as midnight. "And why the heck do you have a _sword_?"

My head felt hot and dizzy again. The guy gave me golden food that looked like lemon squares. "Eat this."

The tone in his voice told me not to argue, but the second I put the squares to my mouth, the taste of Skittles filled my mouth and I felt instantly better. "Thank…?"

"Nico di Angelo," he supplied. "And you are?"

"Anna."

He got off the stairs and brushed off his jeans. "Well, Anna. I guess it's up to me to introduce you to your new life."


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! This is the third chapter I've written in one night! I'm back, baby! I forgot how much I love fanfiction! :3 **

_How to go from a peace-loving, calm, cool, and collected fifteen year old to a chaotic, wild, weirdo_

_A list by Anna Waters_

Fight a "mormo" in a greenhouse on a school field trip

Have your one and only friend save you

Have that one and only friend not explain what the heck just happened

Wake up in a new environment unknown to you

Find a creepy Italian dude trying to convince you that Greek mythology is real

Being surrounded by evidence to prove he's right

Not being able to blame all this craziness on drugs, because you have never taken drugs before

Nico left me after the orientation film he took me to, so he could go to sword practice with a guy named Percy. I looked around "Camp-Half blood", wondering who my mother was. The godly parent had to be my mother. I walked down to the ocean, the bay, the strawberry field. There were "satyrs" dancing around in it and…

"Miranda!" I laughed from relief that I finally had something familiar around here. I ran to her and she embraced me with a warm hug.

"I had no idea you were up!" She said apologetically. "I meant to stay with you, but I had to get back to my activities." She sounded so guilty, I hugged her.

"Don't feel bad. This guy, Nico helped sort things out."

Miranda let go, holding me at arm's length. "Nico? As in, di Angelo? Son of Hades?"

I nodded. "But I don't think we're buddy-buddy, if that's what you're asking. He saw me practically crippled and helped me out so I wouldn't get trampled."

She looked at me quizzically. "Well… okay."

"What?"

"Nothing."

I put my hands on my hips. "No, not nothing. What is it?"

Miranda bent down picking more strawberries. "Hey, I'm not going to let you who to be friends with. That's not my job."

"C'mon, what's so wrong about him?"

She huffed and stood back on her feet, looking me in the eye. "Okay, the truth: Nico is the son of Hades. While he helped us out in the second Titan war, most people stay away from him. We accept him, but stay away. You should too, I think. unless you don't want too. He just radiates death."

I blinked twice. "Duh. I mean, I'm new to this whole demigod thing, but that kinda makes sense. If I can see it, why can't you?" Miranda looked like I'd just told her she looked fat in those jeans. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't want us to fight. I just… I don't know. I felt bad that Nico has a bad rep just because of who he is. Not the actions he's done despite who he is."

She smiled a little. "You seem like you're getting back to normal. Accepting everyone, spreading your hippie love in every step, and keeping the peace. Next thing you know, everyone will have flowers in their hair and the children of Ares will be hugging everyone."

"Ares…" I said, trying to remember who he was from the film. "God of… war?"

She punched my arm. "See? You're already adapting to camp." We both laughed. That was Miranda for you. She could make even the strangest of things seem so simple. Carefree. That's why I liked her so much. "Now, then. Before dinner, go to cabin twelve and tell Travis and Connor Stoll you're new. They'll help you from there."

"Thanks, chica." I turned my back to Miranda and made my way to cabin twelve just before the windows exploded with shaving cream.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's 9:07PM and here comes chapter four! I'm on a roll tonight! Whoop, Whoop! I haven't had writer's block yet, so this is exciting. In between chapters I usually can't think of what to write next! :3**

**~0~0~0~0~**

Shaving cream spewed out of the windows, kids filing out of the cabin, laughing. The centaur—Chiron—cantered over, left bewildered by the carnage.

"Travis! Connor!" He yelled. "Come here."

Out of the many kids, two boys came forward. They looked so alike, you could almost mistake them for twins. The taller one, Travis, looked smug and the shorter one with slightly longer hair—Connor—looked pleased. I stayed away from them, not wanting to get all up in their face right then and there, but as soon as Chiron left, Connor saw me, awkward and out of place. He jogged over.

"Hey, new girl. I'm Connor, co-leader of cabin twelve."

"Hi, I'm Anna," I said, shy.

"Um… Well, as my brothers and sisters clean up that mess, I'll help you out."

"You sure you don't need me to help with… that?"

He shook his head and put his arm on my shoulder. "Nah, they can handle it. The important thing now is to help get you finalized."

"Wow. The way you said that makes me feel like you're going to spade me. It's kinda creepy."

He laughed like that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "You're funny. I like you."

Thirty minutes later, I was decked out in new jeans, an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. We tried to find a weapon for me, but there was nothing that felt right or was "me", so we abandoned the task. Back in cabin twelve, I sat on the top bunk bed, thinking about the day I had. When everyone went to eat dinner, I declined. I was too sad about everything to eat.

I took out the notebook and pencil Connor stole for me at the camp store.

_I've lost my dad. He has no clue where I am or if I'm okay. He's worrying about me, I know it. I've lost my freedom. No more going to the mall, hanging out at the park, running up and down the streets of New York, screaming at the top of my lungs, just to see the peoples' reactions—most of them didn't care, but that's what made it so fun. No more dancing in the rain with Mittens on the patio in my backyard. Now I'm just a demigod, being told how to act._

I fell asleep with the notebook as my pillow, pencil in my hand, and tears streaming down my face.

_Now, I'm nothing but Anna._


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay! After watching three to four hours of YouTube (Shout out to Danisnotonfire, AmazingPhil, Jenna Marbles, and IISuperWomanII!) I am ready to fanfiction! :D**

* * *

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

When I opened my eyes the next morning, Connor, Travis, and Miranda's sister—Katie?—were talking, sitting on the floor. "Hey!" Connor smiled.

"Hey. What time is it?"

"One o'clock. You slept in late, but Katie said to let you sleep," Travis said. "I wanted to wake you up sooner—"

"By pouring a bucket of water on her!" Katie interjected. She turned her attention to me and smiled. "Watch out for these two. They'll screw with you until you want to pull your hair out."

I laughed and sat down next to Connor. "What are you guys doing in here? Don't we have to… I don't know… do stuff?"

"I'm lazy," Travis groaned.

Katie nodded. "But, heard Miranda is at the pegisi stable."

"Cool! Wait, where is the—"

"I'll take you!" Connor exclaimed, jumping to his feet. We left the cabin and walked over to a stable. "So here we are. If you want any more help, let me know, okay?"

I laughed. "Yeah, thanks! You're the best."

Inside the stable, there were at least fifteen winged horses all different colors and sizes and wing spans. I marveled at a Pegasus with awe. He was grey-blue with small braids in his mane and intense grey eyes.

"His name is Blueberry," Miranda said behind me. She unlocked his door and helped guide him out. "Get on."

I laughed, nervous. "What?"

She giggled her eyebrows. "C'mon. Up. You _know_ you want to."

Looking at the horse, I felt my heart throb. I _did_ want to ride him, but… "Would it hurt him?"

She gave me a look that said. _Wow. What a noob._ "Get on and hold on."

Jumping on Blueberry, I took a deep breath. "Now?"

"Get a running start and ride, er, fly."

"Right, I'll just do that."

I kicked Blueberry. He galloped so fast, my skin stung and I thought my face would peel off. Then, Blueberry took flight. You heard stories of people wishing to fly, but honestly, I didn't like that idea whatsoever. I had no control—anytime she tried to go down, Blueberry whinnied and continued to fly. After fifteen minutes, he went back down to the ground and neighed, clearly satisfied with freaking me out.

"How was the riding lesson?" Miranda asked, laughing at my messed up hair.

"Shut. Up."

She took my hand and took me to a pick cabin. "Go in, ask Mitchell for hair help."

"Say what?"

Miranda groaned and opened the door. Inside, a bunch of girls talked and did manicures and such, while a few guys hung out talking about girls. "Mitchell!"

One of the boys looked up. "Yea—oh. Gods. What did you do to her hair?"

My face flushed a deep red and Miranda explained the pegisus story, going into detail of how I "screamed like a fury with a hangnail". I punched her arm.

"Okay, I can fix this. But… Everyone get out. Makeover."

Collective groans and a few curses erupted the room, but slowly everyone except Mitchell and I left.

"I love your red hair. It's deep red… Is it natural?" He asked.

"Yeah…"

"I knew it. Red hair, green eyes, freckles, pale skin—it all looks so pulled together. So, I think I'll cut it chin length. The key to not having a bad hair day riding a pegisus it to have your hair back or have it short. With your hair, short would look fabulous on you _and_ complement you're natural hippie vibe."

"Oh, thank you… I think."

He laughed. "I like you. What's your name, babe?"

"Anna."

"Daughter of…?"

My eyes fell to the floor. "I wish I knew."

He nodded carefully. "You came yesterday, right?" I nodded. "Then you should be claimed soon. Don't sweat it. But… Um… friendly advice from the son of Aphrodite: don't get too emotionally attached to anyone until you are claimed. You don't want to find out an… _unsavory_ surprise."

I blushed again, making Mitchell laugh. "I'm just teasing! Smile, it's good for you—you live longer."

I giggled softly. "I'm just not good at talking to people…"

"Confidence is sexy."

That time, I really did laugh. And he hugged me slightly. "Hey, if you ever want to hang, I'm here for you."

"Thanks," I got up and looked in the mirror. I had my four feet of hair lopped off and I looked oddly pretty. I never liked short hair, but this look worked for me. "I'll pay you back for this, I promise."

He scoffed. 'Don't offend me—you look beautiful thanks to my handy work. That is enough for me."

I left the cabin, feeling happy. I saw Nico laying up against a tree across the camp. "Hey, Nico."

He nodded. "Hey, Anna."

He was watching a group of girl wrestlers a few feet away, frowning. _Does this guy ever smile?_ "Kinky," I teased.

He glared at me, his look sharp as daggers. "What?"

I felt like I was about to melt and _not_ in the good way. "Sorry. It just looked like you were checking those girls out. I was just teasing. Sorry."

"I'm not checking them out. I'm watching my friend. I don't want to bother her while she's practicing."

"You hang out with people?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"Sometimes. I don't like talking to people in general, but River is cool. Different from other people."

"Yeah, I noticed that. You're very quiet."

He nodded his head. "I'm bad news to these campers, so I just stay on the sidelines, except for a few exceptional people."

I nudged him and winked. "So does that make _me_ exceptional?"

He regarded me with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite place. "Suppose it does… Why do you talk to me, though? I'm sure Miranda or Katie or someone's told you I'm not welcome, exactly around here."

I shrugged. "They have… But I don't care. I don't judge people by stereotypes. So your dad's Hades. So he has a rep of "evil" or whatever. That's so stupid to say that when you don't know the person themselves. It's call respect."

Nico looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped and bowed down. "You're mother is Iris, goddess of the rainbow."

"What?" I looked at the image Nico looked at above my head—a rainbow of colors and flowers. "Oh. My. Gods."

Nico got off the ground and smirked. "You sound so stupid using demigod slang."

I laughed. "Well, gee, thanks." I pushed the side bangs Mitchell gave me aside. "Hey… Why did you bow to me? It was sweet, but kinda unexpected."

He shrugged. "Typically, people only bow to a major god, but I do it to anybody who's claimed. It's a respect thing."

* * *

**Yay! Anna's making new friends! And, just so everyone knows, there are going to be quite a few parings throughout this fic, okay? But I'll try to not let the romance smother the actual plot.**

**Parings are:**

**Percabeth**

**Tratie**

**RiverxNick (from my other fic)**

**GroverxJuniper**

**And two other potential romances (Nico, but I'm not sure who to pair him with, because *SPOILER: HE'S GAY* And Anna, because... She's just awesome like that.)**

**Any and all ideas welcome! :D (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Love you all, cookies for all! (::) (::) (::) (::)**

**Oh, and because I haven't read the Last Olympian in a while, let's assume that for all intents and purposes Iris was one of the neutral gods. Thanks! **

Once I was in the Iris cabin, I was welcomed with love, hugs, and rainbows. Literally. Butch, the cabin leader, ensured everyone was nice and made me feel welcome as he created a small rainbow right in front of me. The room wasn't much bigger, but there was a lot more room. I guess it was because my mom didn't want a lot of children, so she would have fewer to look out after. Pondering that, I asked the honey blonde girl with light green eyes—Rachelle—about it.

"Why doesn't Mom have more kids? Apollo and Hermes have a ton of kids—they can hardly fit all of them in a single room."

Rachelle shifted uncomfortably. She started off by telling me the epic story of the popular guy, Percy Jackson, then said, "I'm not an expert, but I think she felt guilty. Mom was one of the neutrals, meaning she just sat back and did nothing while the Battle of Manhattan took place. I think she didn't have any more kids, because she feels bad for not helping our cause. It's, like, this is her way of saying she wouldn't contribute to the problem ever again."

_That's sad,_ I thought. I probably would have thought about it more, had Butch, the guy that was so macho he didn't even bother hiding his rainbow tattoo, screamed like a girl that just saw the biggest rat in the world. Suddenly, the whole room was. It was almost lights out, at that point and has Butch plopped into bed, his pillow _puked_. Or at least, it _looked_ like that. It freaked almost everyone out, including myself. Had, Connor Stoll not ran in at that moment, we would have gone crazy. Too bad for him our craziness transformed into anger.

Butch was really to pulverize him, but before he could, Connor said, "I came to warn you about that! Travis did it!"

"Oh. Right," Butch scoffed. "Like we are about it listen to the guy who's dad _invented_ lying."

I couldn't take it. Fighting was not about to go down in this cabin between my new older brother and new friend. "Butch, stop. Don't hurt him. L-let me take care of him myself. I'll make sure he doesn't do it again."

He seemed to think about it for a minute or two before nodding. "Okay, fine."

I smiled, silently thanking him.

Outside, I walked Connor back to his cabin.

"Y'know I didn't do it. Really. It was Travis's night for pranks," he informed me.

I looked at him quizzically. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, really," he began to smile that mischievous Joker smile. "We have to take turns on who plays what prank, when, how, where, and the cover story for when we get caught. It's the one thing we can organize."

I laughed a little. "That seems like a lot of effort to put into pranks, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "I suppose so, but really it's best for the whole camp in the long run. Imagine every kid in Hermes's cabin pranking the camp at the same time. What do you think would happen?"

I shuttered. Hate and resentment would abound. "Ugh, chaos. Please, by all means, if _this_ stops _that_, continue on."

He laughed and hugged my shoulders. "You're hilarious, y'know that?" We'd just reached the door of his cabin. "M'kay. Night, Anna."

"Good night, Connor."


	7. Chapter 7

By the way, I forgot to mention this story takes place_ after_ the war with Gaia!

Who knew harpies enjoyed terrorizing people? I certainly did not. At first, they didn't see me and I barely noticed them. No one told me they were evil. Heck, no one told me about them at all. And yet, there they were, trying to eat my flesh, no less. How I didn't manage to wake up every camper sleeping, I didn't know. Maybe it was the fear that Chiron would punish me? I don't know. All I did know was that when they started to charge, I bolted away. I had no weapon at the time (not that I would have used it), no experience to fight back (Not that I would have tried), and no idea how to get away (which I would have done in a heartbeat).

I ran to the ocean, not sure what to do. Were harpies like dogs? If you masked your scent did they lose track of you? _Why hasn't some kid of Athena's written a book Being a demigod for dummies yet?_ I complained.

At the shore, I looked behind me. They were close. The only way out was to break the vow I made all those years ago… Just then, my ears filled with the rushing sound of water. A current of water rushed over my head, splashing the monsters. It wrapped around the harpies, mangling their fighting. A boy—seventeen? Eighteen?—dispelled them, turning to me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I was a little shocked, a little confused, kinda scared, and very grateful. But what defined _'okay'_ anymore? In the Greek world, did okay translate to _not dead_? Whatever the case, I owed this guy big time. "Yes, thank you. I'm Anna… Daughter of Iris."

He smiled a goofy grin, like he hadn't just killed three horrible monsters. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

After all the amazing tales of Percy, I felt like I was talking to a legend and in a way, I was. "Oh my gods. _You're_ Percy Jackson. I've been here for a few days and everyone tells me all these great things you've done!" I could tell my enthusiasm embarrassed him slightly. His face turned a little pink and he couldn't look me in the eye anymore. _At least I'm not a crazy fangirl, like some others girls here. They must scare him to death,_ I thought.

"Yeah," he laughed. "That's me. Hey, do you need an escort back to your cabin? It's kinda late and I would hate for you to get hurt."

I took his kind offer and we started to talk about stuff. He was real easy to talk to. And funny. I could see why most people liked him.

"See you tomorrow, I guess," he said as we approached my cabin.

"Yeah, see you later."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey Hey, so yeah. For a third time, I changed my name. With Grace And Courage, I am a true warrior, Apollo's little angel—yeah, same dude. **

**Oh! Shout out to **_**kmills499**_ **loved your review! Ambrosia for everyone! |::| |::| |::|**

**Forward and upward!**

* * *

"For the love of all things good in this universe—go _away_!" I groaned throwing a pillow at Miranda's face. I hadn't seen her for the past few days and she wanted to get caught up. At five o'clock in the morning. What kind of crazy person does that, I ask you?

I heard her laugh softly. "Shut up," she whispered. "You're going to wake the whole cabin up. You need to come with me. like, _now._" I tried to ignore her, which worked out fine until my so-called best friend sat her butt down on me.

"Okay, okay!" I quickly got ready in a pair of shorts and a blue tank top with sandals.

Miranda lead me to the huge rock that looked like deer droppings—Zeus's fist, she told me.

"It looks like a poop pile." Just then the sky rumbled softly, like a warning. Wincing, I remembered how _gentle_ the gods were. _I'm sorry, Zeus,_ I prayed silently in my head.

Miranda told me to climb up the tall tree beside Zeus's Fist and go all the way to the top. At first, I had my doubts, but then I realized she had a dagger strapped to her belt and a rope in her hand, and let me tell you: Demeter's children—even the girls—are very strong. It must be all the time they spend farming or whatever it is they do. Needless to say, I did as I was told, no questions asked.

At the top, there was a wooden platform, kinda like the flooring of a tree house, without the roof or walls. I could see every inch of camp and even into the city a little bit. The sky was navy blue, starting to set lighter and lighter, the sun appearing over the edge of the horizon. Pinks and purples and oranges began to color the sky. It was beautiful.

"Travis and I built this one day, hiding from Katie," Miranda said, behind me. "See, Katie is a nice girl, but an irritating sister. She stole my gardening tools one day, so I teamed up with Travis to prank her. We ran here and quickly built this to save our lives from a killer horde of bees… That was also the day they fell in love, ironically enough."

I smiled. Katie and Travis were cute together. When they were around, he would say something stupid and Katie would blush and walk away, or hit him, or yell at him, but no matter what she did, you could always tell she was smiling. He loosened her up and she tied him down—a matched set.

"That's so romantic," I told her. I continued to watch the sky as it formed into a beautiful explosion of colors. Looking over at Miranda, I saw her waving to the sky. I did the same as Apollo streaked by. He saw us and waved back from his sweet sports car.

"Apollo is a flirt, but he's a nice guy," she commented once he'd passed.

"I bet. Hey, it's almost time to eat breakfast. We should get down." But even as I said it, I didn't want to. Up here, nothing was wrong. It was as if time stood still. Peace and quiet. Down there, at camp, swords would be flying and training would begin.

As we traveled back to camp, we smelled something burning. It was strong like seriously overcooked meat that was rubbed in tuna fish, rubbed in Tabasco sauce, and left out in the middle of the road in Arizona on a hot summer day. (If you can't imagine that, I promise you, it is not pleasant. That was the day I found out Miranda had no idea how to cook, whatsoever!)

It was the Ares cabin. One of the landmines inside had gone off and the whole building collapsed. Every camper got out, except for one. River. I met her before and we had a lot in common. She made me feel like I wasn't such a freak and she made me feel better about having a horrible home-life. Nico and Clarisse were crying over her body as people began to crowd around.

"It wasn't an accident," a blonde girl whispered.

"What?" another person said.

"Some people are saying it was rigged on purpose."

I didn't have a lot of information about the situation, or about the cabin rivalries in general, but in that moment, my blood filled with rage. Tears stung my eyes and I pushed myself to the front of the crowd, ignoring all the dirty looks I was getting. Seeing her, I couldn't hold in the tears any longer. River's brown hair was loose and wild, her light skin even paler than usual. Blood trickled from her neck and arms, flowing over her body.

"N-Nic—" I stammered. He understand and took my hand.

"She's gone. I can't do anything," he muttered, almost to himself. "Just like Bianca."

Clarisse jumped to her feet, yelling at everyone. "WHO DID THIS? FACE UP TO IT? YOU KILLED MY SISTER, I KILL YOU!" She was ready to start a fight. Chiron galloped over, pulling her aside to calm her down.

I was so numb, I couldn't feel anything. I could hardly register the voices behind my back mocking me.

"She didn't even _know_ River," someone said.

"She knew her well enough," someone defended. "And besides, you don't _have_ to know them personally to be sad from another camper dying. Haven't we lost enough? It's about family, stupid."

Nico looked at he, cocking his head to the side, like he wanted to talk alone. I walked with him to the edge of the forest. "You okay?"

I sniffed an shook my head no. "You?"

"I've dealt with death a lot. It hurts a lot, but not as much as it used to"

At that point, I broke down into sobbing tears, thinking about how everything. He held me in his arms, despite how uncomfortable he felt, even when my legs went numb from crying and hyperventilating.

After I collected myself, Nico asked, "What happened to you?"

"What?"

"No one cries that hard, unless they knew the person well or had an excruciatingly painful run-in with death before," he wiped tears from my face. "So I wasn't to know—if you don't mind my asking what happened."

I took a deep breath. It would feel good to tell _someone_ and Nico was nice enough to act like a big brother to me…

...oOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo...

_It was my eleventh birthday when I got the news. Dad's long-term girlfriend, Monica, was now his fiancé. Like, happy birthday! You get a new mom! Everything was fine the first few months, then it happened. Monica's son—my stepbrother—Michael, started to cut. It affected the whole family. Monica and dad both ignored him, because they were always at work. I was Michael's only comfort. The kids at school hurt him and teased him, called him names so awful, I couldn't bear to think about how he managed to move on. After a few more months had gone by, Michael was still cutting, I was still keeping it a secret, like I'd promised, but Monica started to pick up on it. Once word was out that my brother was a cutter, school became even more intense for him. Fights happened every turn you made. It was crazy, because it seemed like the whole school was divided into two groups: the people who were on Michael's side and the people who were not. There was no middle ground. Eventually, Michael started to come home with bruises, black eyes, then a broken nose. I don't know why my parents hadn't transferred him earlier, but the broken nose it what really did it. Monica set up a privet tutor for Michael and me to study with. That worked for a while, until the bills started coming in. privet tutoring was expensive. Monica and Dad fought constantly. They threatened to leave each other and nasty things like that. Then it happened. I was coming back from the store one day, when I noticed Michael wasn't in the kitchen, like he usually was. He wasn't in his bedroom either. I found him in the bathroom. Dead. All because of a racial issue. Was it so hard to keep peace in this crazy ,messed up world that the pigmentation of skin can cause such an uproar?_

...oOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOo...

"Wow," Nico said. "I'm so sorry, Anna. I had no idea…"

I sighed, tired. "No one does. Not even Miranda. I kept that a secret for a long time."

He looked at me with sad eyes. "Never keep a secret like that to yourself. It eats away at you. I know from personal experience."

I sniffed, rubbing the corner of my eye. "Thank you."

He pulled me up to my feet. "I'm going to take you out." He announced, like I didn't have a say in it.

"What?"

"You need something to get your mind off of things, and I know just the way to do it. That is, if you don't tell on me," he teased.

"I'm still confused."

He took my hand, smiling. "Just trust me."

Shadow travel is both fun and exciting and terrifying and crazy. I felt my face being practically ripped off. Lucky for me, we stopped soon. Looking around at the booths and clean counters, I knew we were at McDonald's.

"Really?" I asked.

He looked at me, genuinely surprised. "What? I love this place. _And_ it has ice cream, the best comfort food known to man."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine… But I don't eat meat, got it?"

I ended up eating two ice cream cones and most of Nico's French fries. As compensation, though, he played with the My Little Pony happy meal toy he got for me and named it Princess Sparkle Butt.

We stayed out for hours without a monster in sight. It wasn't until we got _back _to camp that trouble started brewing.

It was like school all over again—two side fight against each other. The Ares cabin blamed the Hermes cabin for the death of River. Alongside the Ares cabin were Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Nike, Hebe, Iris, and Tyche. On the other side was Hermes, Apollo, Demeter, Dionysus, Hypnos, Nemesis, and Hecate. There were a few cabins, like Poseidon and Athena, that chose to not get involved, but for the most part, we were divided.


	9. Chapter 9

**Inspiration continues to inspire me (does that sound too redundant?) so I have another chapter! :D**

* * *

Weeks of hostility and violence plagued the camp after the death of River. Training became much more intense, capture the flag became much more violent, and fights erupted everywhere. It would start out as something minor—taking a basketball that someone else wanted, accidentally bumping into someone—then turn into fist fights and broken bones.

It was hard, but I found out why each cabin took the sides they were on. Clarisse blamed Travis and Connor for "a prank that went too far". As such, the entire cabin blames them. The other kids in the Hermes cabin then hates the Ares cabin. Apollo's cabin knows that the Stolls wouldn't go that far just to get a laugh, so they sided with them. Katie and Miranda believe Connor and Travis, mostly because Katie was with Travis was with her when the explosion happened and Miranda believes Connor because he is a close friend of mine. Dionysus chose their side because they don't like the Ares cabin in general. Hypnos, Nemesis, and Hecate chose their side because they have rivals on the other side.

As for Ares cabin's allies, Aphrodite was in love with Ares so they felt they had to be on the same side. Hephaestus cabin claimed to see Connor with a lighter and explosives a few nights ago. Nike was to be on the "winning" side and she think that this side would "win". Hebe and Tyche have rivals on the other side, and as for my cabin, they were on this side, because they'd been pranked and agitated by the Stolls so much, they wouldn't defend them.

It was so hard to wrap my brain around that. Everything was so complicated, nothing made sense. However, I didn't want to get involved, so I went on ignoring the fight. (Not that it was easy.)

Every day I did the same routine: ate breakfast in silence, attempted to learn to use different weapons with Nico. (Note how I said _attempted_. I still sucked at fighting and still couldn't hold a weapon correctly, let alone actually use it to kill monsters.) And in the afternoon, I would do cooperation techniques and things like that with Connor. I hoped it would show that even though Iris and Hermes are at opposite ends, we could still function together.

That was a stupid mistake.

One day after rock climbing with Connor, Butch came up to me.

"What are you doing hanging out with that dipstick?" He jabbed his thumb in Connor's general direction.

Anger flair inside me slightly. "Training."

He rolled his eyes. "Obviously. My question really meant why? You know we aren't on their side."

After losing my friend, opening up my biggest secret, having to cope with all the violence and carnage around camp, being divided from some of my friends, and being forced to stop being friends with someone, I lost it.

"Y'know what, big brother?" I spat. "You can hate anyone you want, but don't expect me to take sides on this. What sides are there? No one knows who did it for sure, no one has any proof of anything—it's all he said/she said—and no one is getting along. I'm sorry, I thought camp was supposed to be a place where half-bloods can come together to be a family. This is not family. This is a war and you know it. It needs to stop!"

He laughed in my face. "You're so naïve! Do you even hear yourself. What you want is world peace, but news flash, sweetheart: that's impossible! Nothing will ever get better just because one or two people have hope. Those idiots hurt us before too many times. We don't trust them. If you choose to trust them, fine. Whatever. But if you end up like River because of it, don't expect me to cry!"

_Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry,_ I told myself, running away. I can't do with anymore.

I went to the tree house Miranda showed me near Zeus's fist. Maybe there is was still untouched from all the madness at camp. Thankfully, it was. I was alone for a few minutes before I heard someone behind me.

"Knock, knock," Connor laughed, nervously. "Can I sit down here?"

I smiled and nodded, moving over to make more room for him.

"I, uh… heard you defending me to Butch. I wanted to say thanks. Not many people have the guts to do that anymore."

I looked into his eyes. "Tell me the truth. What do you think happened. I'm not blaming you. I just want to hear your side of the story."

"No lies?"

I shook my head, laying my head down on his lap. "No lies."

"Well, I was on my way to set off fireworks to celebrate Chiron's birthday—he's, like, ancient—and I wanted it to be a complete surprise, right? Well, my dad taught me very young never to trust anyone with a secret. Once you do, you can't stop them from telling another person. And gossip runs around fast here, so I didn't tell anyone. When I went to light the lighter, I looked up and saw Jake, from Hephaestus looking at me. I was distracted, burned my thumb and ran back to my cabin. That's it."

After a moment of silence, Connor groaned. "You don't believe me, do you?"

I got up and shook my head. "No, no. I do. I believe you, I'm just wondering… What if we explained that to Clarisse and gave her an offering of some sort. Something that would cool the tides before things got too out of hand."

He looked at me and smiled broadly. "You are a genius! That's perfect, Anna. Thank you so much for the help." He hugged me and ran down the tree as fast as he could, me following close behind.

We found Clarisse in her room, talking strategy to two of her brothers. She was serious when she said she would go to war with the camp.

"Clarisse!" I yelled. Brother number one attacked Connor and the second one was about to grab me, but Clarisse called him off.

"What do you want, punk?" She asked.

"I have a proposition for you."

She laughed coldly, taking out her knife. "Oh yeah? Well listen here, missy. The only reason you're not in a headlock right now is because your cabin is fighting with me and if I kill you, that alliance would be terminated. But amuse me. What's your proposition?"

I took a deep breath and explained what Connor said he did and my idea to solve everything. Surprisingly, as I went on, Clarisse looked like she might actually give me a chance. She thought long and hard over the idea of a peace offering.

"Alright, hippie. Here's the agreement: I will not fight until it's initiated by the others, but I will hold off the war for three days. Got that? You have three days to bring me back one holy shrine of Ares. It's known that there is a shrine in Maine called the Sacred Groves of Ares. Get it, bring it back, you got three days. If you return later than that, or don't get me the shrine, expect war, princess. Now, get out. It's almost nighttime."

I was excited walking out with Connor. "That's great! We have a chance. A small chance, but a chance nonetheless!"

"Yeah, well, it's not going to be easy. Because I'm a son of Hermes and you're a daughter of Iris, I doubt it would be any trouble to fly, but once we get to Maine, it won't be easy. Ares's shrines are guarded by drakons. Those are tough monsters to beat."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Some breathe fire, but most don't, which is good, but others spit acidic venom, which is bad. They have hard plate-y scales, and most paralyze you with their eyes. They are very hard to kill. In fact, there is a certain type of drakon that only a child with Ares with enough rage can kill it."

"Oh."

"Well, good night, Anna. We'll leave tomorrow morning." He hugged me good night and went to his cabin for the night. I was about to go to my own, when I heard my brothers and sisters talking about me through the door.

"She isn't going to stay here until this war is over. She can't be trusted." _Butch._

Someone—a girl—defended me. "What in Tartarus are you talking about? She's our sister, this war doesn't change that!"

"Too bad. If she wants a place to sleep, she can sleep in that stupid tree of her's. If she wants a family, maybe she can get her freaks of nature friends, Nico and Connor to be her brothers."

_My tree._

I ran to my tree, careful to avoid the harpies again. The tree was wrecked—toilet paper streamed all over it, spray paint everywhere saying "traitor" and "tree-hugger". The one place of peace was gone, tainted by hatred and resentment of my own brother.

I did the only thing I could do at a time like this.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nico didn't mind taking me to McDonald's. In fact, he was about to go there himself. As I ate, I told Nico about everything that had happened. He listened intently, his expression unreadable. He only spoke when I finished.

"Okay. I'm in," he said. "You're going to need help fighting a drakon, because one person alone can't do it. Besides, I'm always going to be there for you, even if you don't want me to."

_Okay… wait,_ I thought. "Back up just a minute. I'm going with Connor. We'd be fighting together. And why do you feel the need to babysit me?"

"You know that when put into situations where you need to fight, you run away. Connor would be alone. As for the other thing, I'm not babysitting you. I had two people to look up to: Bianca, who died and River, who—as you are well aware of—died. They were my guardians. Now I'm your's."

"Don't put your life at risk because of me!" I yelled.

"I'm not. I'm putting my life on the line, because you need me and you know it."

I sighed. It was true—I wouldn't get very far with him. Nico was my rock. He stood there and no matter what, had my back. Even though I didn't want him to come, risking his life, I felt happy that he didn't just turn around and abandon me. "So we're in this together?"

He nodded. "You got it," he looked at the clock on the wall. "Okay, we need to make a stop by the cemetery. I want you to say hi to a few people."


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay so this is a really bad filler, I know, but I suck at transitioning. Hopefully this isn't too barf-worthy. Cookies for all! (::)(::)(::)(::)**

* * *

I couldn't fully understand why Nico wanted to talk in a cemetery, or why he wanted to dig a hole in the ground near the back, or why he fed the huge pit his McDonald's happy meal and started chanting eerie Ancient Greek, until ghosts started swirling around the dark hole. Who knew the undead liked chicken nuggets, tiny apples, and milk?

"Keep them away!" Nico said. "This is for River!"

Hearing her name, I jumped to life. I tried to keep them away, but it was useless. I didn't have a weapon. Thankfully, Nico was there to help and together (mostly him) we managed to keep all the other spirits at bay. The second River's lips touched the concoction in the pit, the other ghosts dispelled.

River looked the same as she always had—same hair flowing down her shoulders, same secretive smug grin, like she was waiting for something funny to happen and only she knew about it.

"Riv," Nico said. "Who did this to you?"

Regarding him with sad eyes, she sighed. "I was sleeping when this happened. I'm not sure. But, don't worry about me. The fates knew what they were doing. Everything is going to be okay—I promise."

I shook my head. "No, it isn't. There is a war at camp waiting to happen, because they think Connor Stoll did this."

She smiled sadly. "You're brave—that's why I like you. You solve problems without senseless violence. I can't stay long, but I love you two. Tell everyone at camp that, too. I'll see you soon."

Nico and I watched in silence as she went away.

The other ghosts started to dispel and the sinking feeling of loss and hopelessness ran through my body all over again. I felt ready to burst into tears and cry. _There is no way I can do this_, I thought. _River was wrong…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That night, I had nightmares like crazy. In one, Nico had just risen the dead and was about to charge into battle with the drakon as Connor ran swiftly to the shrine. I just stood there, wanting to help, wanting to do something. But then it was too late. Nico had been mauled by the monster and Connor was in trouble. I tried to run to his aid, but my feet wouldn't move. I was completely useless. And yes, eventually, after Connor's extremely gory death, I too was killed.

Then in another, we defeated the drakon—_they —_defeated the drakon, and we were on our way to camp, but we were a day late and everyone was dead. The cabins were on fire and there was nothing left of Camp.

And then the worst one of all: It started off like the last two dreams—we got there, but instead of being helpless and weak, I actually fought back. I wasn't sure how I managed to harness the power to create rainbows out of thin air, but I did. And somehow, that power was strong enough to stop the drakon from killing Connor, who was trying to grab the shrine. Nico was beside me and together we killed the monster—I took part in killing something. As much as I was relieved that I no longer had to worry about the quest, "Dream Me" was also horrified by the act.

I woke up in the middle of the night and quickly came to the conclusion that a "peaceful demigod" was an oxymoron. Even though I had hardly any sleep in the last few days, I made an effort to stay awake. I had to find myself a weapon.

The plan was to go in, find something lightweight and deadly, and leave without waking anyone up. As if it could ever be _that_ easy.

I made sure the harpies weren't around before I made a run for the tool shed thing that they keep all the weapons and stuff in. _Check_. Get in quickly without being seen. _Check_. Look around and trip over your own foot twice. _Double check_.

I heard someone laugh behind me. "You're such a klutz, y'know that?"

I turned around to see a very sleepy Miranda. "Hey," I said, picking up a golden knife, inspecting it's texture.

She walked in sitting on a bench beside me. "So. What's a peace-loving girl like you doing in a lethal place like this?"

I laughed somewhat bitterly. "If I am going on this quest with Connor, I am going to fight. I'm not some princess—I can't just sit back and do nothing. I offered the proposition, it's my duty to make sure everything turns out okay."

"I heard about that. Connor told Travis, who told Katie, who told me. It sounds a bit risky, though. I mean, it's dangerous…"

I felt a fire burn in my heart. I wasn't sure if it was anger, sorrow, or disappointment in myself. "That's why I'm going to need a weapon. I have to do this."

"Why? If there is a chance of you dying, why go?"

"Is that not what heroes do?" I whisper-yelled. "Is that not what we are here to train for? I am doing this no matter what?"

"At what costs?" Miranda cried. "I know, I get it. You want to fight to save Connor. You want to prove your cabin wrong about him. You want to prove that violence and war solves nothing, but you can _die_. Have you _any_ idea how many friends died trying to fight off a drakon? How many of my brothers and sisters lost their lives in battle? I don't want to lose you too!"

I looked at my best friend, taking in her dark, messy bed hair, her shaking body, red eyes on the verge of tears. "I'm going to die if I can't defend myself."

She sighed and took a deep breath. "Well then," she smiled, weakly. "We better find you a good weapon."

After going through guns, knives, bow and arrows, and a lot of other junk, I found an old shield with a matching spear nearby. They weren't too big and even though it looked heavy, it was actually light and durable. The spear's shaft was just perfect for my hand.

"Hey, Miranda?" I asked, picking the duo together. "What about this? It's perfect for me, I think."

She looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she saw the shield and spear, mouth agape. "I-I-, uh… um… Well," she made a face like she'd eaten something moldy.

"What?"

"Well, dear heart, that is the shield and spear of Achilles…"

Suddenly, I felt like fainting. I had no right to touch something so precious. "I'll just put it back," I was about to lay it back down when Miranda told me to keep it.

"It could protect you," she said. "Besides, it makes you look fearless." She winked at me, laughing. I was thankful to have a friend like her.

* * *

**Ta-dah!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you guys love it so much! (::)(::)(::)(::)**

* * *

It took a little bit of coaxing—okay, a _lot_ of coaxing—but eventually, I managed to convince Miranda to stay up and teach me how to use a spear and when I needed to shield. It wasn't easy, because I didn't want to hurt anyone or be too loud. If someone saw me, best friends with Connor Stoll, and Miranda, girlfriend of Travis Stoll, we would have made the situation much more… uncomfortable, to say the least. But after an hour or two, I began to understand it better. I got the timing just right, I threw the spear with sufficient aim, and I protected myself decently.

"You're a natural," Miranda smiled. "I'm surprised this is your fighting style. It doesn't scream _Anna-the-hippie_, but it's defiantly your calling."

I blushed. "Gods, Miranda. You make it sound like I've been doing this for years. I'm not an expert."

"But you are the first person to use this since Achilles himself. Most of the people who tried to use these failed because there was something that did "fit" right. It's kinda scary if you ask me."

"Why is that?" I asked, anxious.

"She shook her head. "It's nothing, really. I, well… Achilles suffered a lot. What if you do too?"

"I'll be fine. You will see me in three days, okay?"

She looked unsure, but nodded for my sake. "I know. Good luck."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The morning was somewhat of a blur. Nico, Connor, and I walked to the edge of the camp boarder with a few of our friends wishing us off. Miranda, being the sweet, kind-hearted person she was, tried to hold back tears. Travis hugged her saying it would be okay, but it hurt to just leave her like this.

"Hey, M," I said, taking off my multi-colored bracelet, placing it on her wrist. She'd made me that bracelet when we were little, the very first day we met in first grade. "Don't cry. I'll be back. I swear on the river Styx, I will."

* * *

**;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for that short chapter. It made me feel like a flake, but I had to leave, so I couldn't write more. Love you lots!**

* * *

Okay, so our plan took a dive when we missed our plane. Connor promised we would travel by plane, because that was the fastest way to get to Maine, but we were three minutes too late. It sucked. Nico couldn't shadow travel all three of us without being extremely exhausted. The new plan: think of a new plan. The guy with the eyes all over his body—Argus?—drove us into the city, but after that, we were on our own.

Why did he have to leave?

The three of us sat outside this boarding school place called The Yancey Academy, where they probably have a ton of homework, misfit kids, and killer teachers. It looked like a place of cruel, unusual punishment.

Nico growled. "Gods, Connor. The fate of the camp is at stake and you can't even manage to get us to an airport on time."

Connor stood up ready to fight. "It wasn't my fault. And besides, who asked you to be here? Last I checked, this is my quest."

Nico stood up, pulling out in stygian iron sword. "That's where you're wrong. Anna came up with the idea for a peaceful solution. It is _her_ quest to fix your mistake."

I stood up, wedging myself between them. "Okay, okay. Look, we are just upset, because we are not morning people. We're tired and irritable. Why don't we just find a taxi?" They back off each other a little. "What was that one cab driver I heard about? The Grey Sis—"

"No!" Connor and Nico yelled. "Not them."

"Well then," I sighed. "We need to get moving on foot until we have a better plan."

We walked along the busy streets of Manhattan, Connor leading the way, like he had no problem walking fast for miles and miles—which he most likely didn't. Nico stayed by my side, protecting me, like he promised back at McDonald's. I looked at him. His black hair was brushed over the side of his face, covering one eye, he walked like he was in a hurry. He was bitter and angry, but I didn't know why. Sure, he was always a bit moody, but this was worse, almost truly scary.

"You okay?" I asked, taking his hand in mine. His hands were like ice and he tried to pull away at first, but then settled down.

"I just… I hate this quest," he said. "I hate that you are my friend and that you chose to get involved. I hate that River died senselessly. And I really hate that every chance Connor gets, he tries to make a move on you. Do you know how many times I had to glare at him before he backed off? This whole situation sucks."

"Oh." I had no idea how to process all this information. "Wait, back up. Why don't you want to be my friend? Am I not—"

"No, whatever you think, it's not that. I just… Every friend I've made gets hurt. Mom—dead. Bianca—dead. Hazel—not here. Percy—gets thrown into Tartarus trying to save me. Annabeth—same thing. River—dead. I don't want you to get hurt too."

My heart broke. Nico carried all this guilt around all day long—no wonder he was always so sad. "I am so sorry, Nico. I really didn't know. I was heartless."

He looked at me and rolled his eyes. "No. Don't feel bad. I don't need to be pitied. Pity isn't going to help anything. I just want to move on, but this quest… It kinda was a setback. But I'm going to make sure you survive." He wrapped one arm around my shoulder and I could have sworn I saw a slight smile.

"Y'know, Connor is just being friendly. It doesn't mean anything, really."

"We shall see," he said, like he already knew what would happen.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After realizing he was walking too fast, Connor turned around. "Sorry," he said. "I forgot you guys aren't every fast walkers."

It was almost midnight and we were still in New York. That left us with two days left. I freaked out, trying to get Nico and Connor to move it, but they were too tired. We took turns taking shifts. It was while Connor was out finding firewood that I came up with an idea.

Nico wouldn't go for it at first, tears, begging, and tantrums didn't work on him, but logic did.

"C'mon, Nico," I pleaded. "Why don't you shadow travel to Maine and wait for Connor and I there? One of use needs to be there. What if we can't make it in time? You _could_ save the day. Please?"

"Fine," he sighed. "Fine. But you owe me two McDonald's happy meals when all this is over… But the second I think you might be in danger, I'm coming back."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, _brother_. But how would you even know I were in trouble?"

He smiled like the chasseur cat. "Brotherly intuition," he laughed, before leaving. I couldn't help but think about how Nico was like Michael. I protected Michael more than he protected me, but they both had that mysterious element to them and they could make you laugh at feel at home no matter what. It was nice having an new brother.

When Connor came back, I explained the new plan to him and he nodded. "Do you honestly think this quest is that hopeless?" He asked finally.

I wasn't sure how to take that. Should I be angry? Sad? Disappointed? Anxious? "No, but we do need a fallback plan. If things… don't go our way." I scooted a little closer to the fire, the nightly chill taking its toll.

Connor laughed humorlessly. "I bet, death breath didn't like the idea of leaving you alone with me, huh?"

I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Um, no. but only because he wants to ensure my safety. It's understandable after losing so many loved ones."

He inched his way closer to me, placing an extra jacket over. "Yeah. That's it, probably. Anyway, you go to sleep. I'll take first watch."

I didn't argue. I didn't sleep much the past few days. In no time, I was out like a light.


	13. Chapter 13

When I woke up, it was morning and Connor was already eating breakfast. He didn't notice me at first, too busy with his food—golden food from camp. What did they call it? Ambrosia? _Oh crap!_ I thought. _Ambrosia!_

Still dizzy from sleep, I tried to get up, but ended up just wobbling around. "Connor!"

He dropped the food of the gods, looking scared. "It was nothing! Please don't take your early morning madness out on me."

I rolled my eyes, "Be serious. What happened while I was asleep?"

"Stymphalian birds were a few miles out. Not too close to us, but close enough to worry. I wouldn't have bothered them—give them a reason to harm us, but then they got hungry…"

I sighed, brushing the hair out of my face. "You should have woken me. I could have helped."

He raised an eyebrow. "You? No offence, Anna, but you don't have a weapon or a special fighting skill. It wouldn't have made much difference. At least this way you would be out of the way _and_ you could get some sleep."

I tried my hardest not to be offended. I mean, I knew I had some issues, but was I really nothing more than dead weight to him? Nico didn't say anything about it, but I got the hint that he thought so too… "Well," I scoffed, moving to the other side of the camp fire. "It just so happens that I am a natural using a spear and I have an amazing shield that no one else has used for millennia." I sounded a lot more confident than I meant to, but the shock on my best friend's face was priceless. His chocolaty brown eyes widened, mouth opened slightly, head crooked.

"Really?" He asked finally.

I opened up the backpack that I used to carry clothes, my pencil and my notebook (which I used very frequently) ambrosia, nectar, and my spear and sword. I took out the stick—yes, a _stick_ was actually my mind-blowing, amazing, perfect spear— and the golden ring that, when I rubbed it, it turned into the huge shield.

Connor was left speechless, making me very happy. That would show him. I can be more than I appear. I know I can. After examining me for a few minutes, he said, "Okay, fine. Just be careful with that thing. We ate a small breakfast of energy bars and power aid and whatever else Connor managed to steal from the camp store, talking about our lives before camp.

"Our mom was special," he said. "There were times when she'd act like our brother, Luke's mother—senile and off her rocker—but there were also times when she was as warm and loving as Percy's mom. I can't describe what Percy's mom is like. You'd have to meet her to know, but let me tell you—no matter how weird her blue cookies _look_ they taste amazing no matter what."

I smiled. It was strange to talk about something privet like this. Not even Miranda would talk to me about her home life. Connor was open and honest to me about everything. _Either that, or he's an impressive liar_, I noted. We continued to walk about talk all day long, running into a few monsters, but they didn't seem like such a big deal. So what a few no-name monsters attacked us? I impressed Connor by flinging my spear straight into their hearts. As much fun as it was to mock his stunned expression, I still had that uneasy _I just killed something _feeling that made me sick.

"Hey," Connor asked, voice low trying to take my hand. "You okay?"

I ignored my feelings and forced a smile. "Yeah… How much farther are we until we reach Maine?"

"Half a day by car, a day by foot."

_Crap. I had to get there tonight…_ I thought, worried. As if on cue, my loving brother, Nico appeared from thin shadow in a dark ally. Furious, he demanded to know what we were doing.

"We are running out of time," Nico hissed. "So if it did put you out of your way, hurry up!"

The two boy ignored me, fighting things out again, like they did from day one. Looking into the stormy sky, I saw a rainbow. It was almost cruel to look at. I hated my mother and all the gods and how if I'd just left camp the first day, none of this would happen. Then I felt a warm sensation take over me.

_Darling, _a voice said in my head. _My sweet, Anna, do not be angry simply because a problem seems difficult_. It was my mother. I'm not sure how or why, but the voice was unmistakable.

_What do I do, Mom?_

If it were possible, I could have sworn she laughed. _What do you mortals say… Follow the rainbow to find the pot of gold?_ As soon as she came, my mother left. But I made a mental note to give her a food offering when all this was over. Once again, I stepped in between my two best friends.

"Follow me," I said. "I know what to do."


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey! So school, archery, the new one-shot ideas, and trying to stay committed with my other story, I neglected this one for a week or two. I'm sorry! :( Anyway, here is the new chapter! Enjoy**

* * *

Instead of sliding off a rainbow into a pot of gold, the three of us landed on the drakon's head. Lovely.

Nico and Connor jumped off, knowing exactly how to fight, whereas I just sat there, trying to think—which, I should add, it horrible when you're fighting a monster. Never think just stab, because when I hesitated, I was flung off the ugly beast in a second.

"Ow!" I hissed, landing on my butt. I got up as quickly as I could. this was war and none of those nightmares would come true if I could help it.

"I'll grab the shrine!" Connor yelled. "Distract it!"

"No!" I dodged the drakon's attack every so slighting. "Nico! Shadow travel to the shrine and take it to camp!"

Without hesitation, Nico obeyed my orders and soon Connor and I were on our own.

The drakon moved from left to right, trying to kill us, but Connor and I kept mixing up our moves. This way, we could distract him until we thought of a better plan. He didn't want something bad to happen to me and I couldn't live without Connor.

I somehow landed on the drakon's back, where he couldn't attack me. holding on for dear life, I didn't want to shank the stupid monster. He reminded me of the monster Michael became…

Worst mistake of my life. When I let my guard down, the stupid monster flung Connor into a nearby tree. He didn't move.

I screamed at the top of my lungs until I felt a burning sensation all over my chest, pretty sure even Kronos heard me.

The drakon was still trying to get me off his back, but I held firm, bleeding from being clawed and thrown about. I reached for my stick and swung it above my head as it transformed into a spear. I caught the magical weapon as I slid off the beast's back, running to my friend.

_Thank the gods_, I smiled. I almost laughed at my luck. _He just broke a few ribs_. In a battle against a drakon, that was almost legendary._ No one could hold out against a drakon like this_.

The drakon was about to kill me with its poisonous venom, I used the shield of Achilles for the first time. Unlike others at camp, I felt right at home with these weapons. They felt just right in my hands and with surprisingly good aim, I threw the spear into the drakon's skull, turning it into golden monster dust.

I killed a monster.

* * *

**Aw. The story is one chapter away from being finished. I'll start on it right now, I promise. I_ know_ you'll enjoy the final chapter**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow. I forgot how hard it was (emotionally) to stop writing. :'( I might end up making more stories and have Anna as a minor character. I can't let go of my baby!**

**Anyway, here is the final chapter, I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

I didn't feel any sense of pride or honor in killing the drakon. I didn't feel any shame or disappointment. I felt numb, almost indifferent, like it was something I just had to do.

_At least there is peace,_ I thought. _Everything is okay. _Looking down at my friend, I cried.

He was hurt badly because of this war at camp. This was why I hated fighting—innocent lives were hurt and ruined by them. He did nothing wrong and yet he was the one to get hurt. The rainbow faded away, so there was no way to get back to camp, and I didn't know what to do or how to help him. It wasn't like I could make a rainbow out of thin air.

_Oh my gods. _I thought. _Dear Zeus, I've never actually prayed to any of the gods, so I don't know if I'm doing this right, but please make it rain. Just a little… Apollo? Think you could help out with this too?_

At first, nothing happened, but then a very light, misty drizzle came pouring down from the sky and the sun gave off just enough light to create a faint rainbow. I touched it, feeling it harden under my touch. Willing the rainbow to pass under Connor's body, we lifted into the sky—not sliding like we did before. It was more like gliding.

I forced the rainbow to go slow, so it wouldn't hurt Connor, but fast enough to get to camp quickly. Every now and then, I'd feed him ambrosia or nectar, but stopped when the sun shone brightly in my eyes. I took that as a warning from Apollo that I was feeding him too much. Not long after, Connor woke up, bleary eyed.

"Careful," I said softly. "Don't move too much—this is only a small patch of rainbow."

He sat up slowly and took in his surroundings. "Yeah… We're floating… _Hades_! Are you okay? What happened? Did you—"

I smiled, happy he was okay. "Yes. I killed it and I am fine. Now rest."

Back at camp, we were treated like heroes—which we were. And everyone apologized to both me and Connor—which felt good, but the real magic started to happen on the Fourth of July.

Fireworks were flying and people were cheering as Leo set off amazing fireworks, telling tales and having fun, everyone was laughing. Nico, Connor, and I were sitting a little back from the rest of the campers, still enjoying the amazing view. The boys talked a little, but I ignored them, because a firework of a girl with a multicolored body throwing a spear at a drakon appeared in the sky.

Nico left a few minutes later, hugging me goodnight.

"Y'know what, Anna?" Connor asked, laying hid head on my lap.

"What?"

"You're really pretty."

I blushed like crazy. I was in a simple white t-shirt, with a jean jacket, and shorts with flip flops, a black clip in my hair to keep my bangs out. Mitchell was gracious enough to re-trim my hair and put on very little all natural makeup. "Thank you."

He sat back up and kissed me.

When most people went back to their cabins, Leo, Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Connor, and I stayed behind to clean up. Nico came running down the hill, two other people running behind him. When they got closer, I had to take a huge, deep breath to keep from screaming.

"T-Tw—" Nico panted. "Two new half-bloods. Everyone, meet Elise and Rachelle." There, standing behind him, was the unmistakable reincarnation of River Sakngno and Bianca di Angelo. "They are the daughters of Ares and Hades."

* * *

**And we are done! How about that? Haha! I could never **_**really**_** kill off my little River—I had that planned from the beginning, however, the Bianca part—that was unplanned. She just sort of appeared. Anyway, I hope you like my story. Special shout out to Awesome and Annabeth! Loved reading your reviews, because they were literally the only thing that kept me writing constantly! **


End file.
